Very specific bear gun question

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Elkins45

Elkins45

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I know there’s a whole thread but this is a very narrow question. I’m going to be car camping in grizzly country. I have three possible contenders for guns to keep in camp, in addition to a big can of bear spray. My three gun choices are:

375 Ruger bolt gun with 300 grain RN
12 gauge pump with slugs
M1 Garand (30-06) with 200gr handloads

The reason I included the Garand is the thought that if a big bear is within spray distance it might also be within the range where bump firing off a whole 8 round clip might be possible. That’s probably silly, but it came to mind.

Of these three choices which would be best?
 
I lived in Montana for many years and had frequent discussions with friends about what comprises the best bear protection in grizzly country. The general consensus was that you would likely have at least a fighting chance if you were carrying a 12 gauge shotgun with alternating rounds of slugs and buckshot. That was many years ago though. I think the consensus now is that bear spray is more effective, mostly because even expert shooters have great difficulty getting their gun in the fight when there's a bear attack.
 
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Ruger bolt gun gets my vote only because I like the nearly absolute reliability of the action vs the kinda janky feeding systems of pumps when you pump them slowly or sideways or whatever. I guess the garand would be fine too though, I would certainly feel unstoppable with the garand.
 
Ruger bolt gun gets my vote only because I like the nearly absolute reliability of the action vs the kinda janky feeding systems of pumps when you pump them slowly or sideways or whatever. I guess the garand would be fine too though, I would certainly feel unstoppable with the garand.
 
Elkins45 said:
I have three possible contenders for guns to keep in camp. . .
Click to expand...
You need fast, powerful, hits. You need all the 3; too much of one at the expense of the others will get you lunched (extraordinarily unlikely, but that's the primary failure mode).

I would be tempted towards the rifle if it's short, unscoped, and you can run it quickly. Else the shotgun and a tube of 1oz. slugs.
 
Personally, I would take the .375 Ruger. I have one, partly but not solely for this reason. I took it car camping in Grizzly country a month or so ago. It's literally my first choice for what you describe.

Shotgun slugs always seemed a little slow and soft, with too large a diameter to penetrate enough. That's a subjective impression. I'm sure they've proven effective, but I've never felt good about them.

The Garand, with 150gr FMJ doesn't seem bad as far as penetration goes. But let's be honest, it's a 150gr at .308 velocities. Though I'd like to believe it's enough, going by anecdotes it sounds like a 180gr .30-06 seems to be more of a minimum. Multiple hits would certainly be beneficial, and is certainly more likely by far with the Garand.

But yeah, Grizzly country was a great excuse to buy my .375 Ruger Guide Gun.
 
WrongHanded said:
Personally, I would take the .375 Ruger. I have one, partly but not solely for this reason. I took it car camping in Grizzly country a month or so ago. It's literally my first choice for what you describe.

Shotgun slugs always seemed a little slow and soft, with too large a diameter to penetrate enough. That's a subjective impression. I'm sure they've proven effective, but I've never felt good about them.

The Garand, with 150gr FMJ doesn't seem bad as far as penetration goes. But let's be honest, it's a 150gr at .308 velocities. Though I'd like to believe it's enough, going by anecdotes it sounds like a 180gr .30-06 seems to be more of a minimum. Multiple hits would certainly be beneficial, and is certainly more likely by far with the Garand.

But yeah, Grizzly country was a great excuse to buy my .375 Ruger Guide Gun.
Click to expand...

Some slugs are soft and are meant to expand but others, like brenneke are not.

There's a huge difference between foster style and brenneke
 
Elkins45 said:
I know there’s a whole thread but this is a very narrow question. I’m going to be car camping in grizzly country. I have three possible contenders for guns to keep in camp, in addition to a big can of bear spray. My three gun choices are:

375 Ruger bolt gun with 300 grain RN
12 gauge pump with slugs
M1 Garand (30-06) with 200gr handloads

The reason I included the Garand is the thought that if a big bear is within spray distance it might also be within the range where bump firing off a whole 8 round clip might be possible. That’s probably silly, but it came to mind.

Of these three choices which would be best?
Click to expand...


If those are your only options.....the shotgun, provided you have proper ammunition! The other firearms may prompt you to shoot a bear much farther away than an actual defense situation! You will be in a deep pile of “pooh”, if the investigation, and there “will” be an investigation, deems the shooting was not justified! The ensuing investigation can be very expensive for you! JMO memtb
 
My first choice would be the brenneke 12 gauge slug ! On a side note, for the Garand you had better have a regulated gas plug for the 180 and 200 gr. bullets. The gas system on them was not made for those heavy bullets and if the rifle is not set up right you might only get on shot off before a bent op rod or some kind of malfunction !
 
There is a sticky above “What gun for bears”. The reason is that they all morph into the exact same thread with the exact same information as this one is. Please refer to it for any what gun for bears threads.
 
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